4th October 2021 Idiographic and Nomothetic Research

Idiographic – viewing by individual cases, vivid descriptions which are particular and not generalised.
Gain qualitative data from it, an example being case studies, supports the humanistic approach.
Individuals are important and cannot be generalised. Psychodynamic can also come under
idiographic approach because of his use of case studies example Little Hans; yet he tries to create
this into a nomothetic term which is heavily incorrect.

Nomothetic – Generalised statement/assumption, basic explanation of the purpose of the

generalised topic. Approaches which use this are biographic, cognitive, behaviourist and social
learning theory. They still use case studies but only for information, they tend to use lab experiments
in order to get quantitative data. Its focus is on generalised results.

Nomothetic approach to a phone – Phones are used as basic communication devices, it can use
applications of which can be used for gaming, entertainment etc. They come in a variety of colours
and sizes which they come in a variety of prices and qualities. There are different brands of phones
which offer different experiences.

Key Term or Concept Definition or Example Research

Idiographic
Nomothetic
Research Methods
associated with Idiographic
approach
Research Methods
associated with nomothetic
approach
Psychological approaches
associated with idiographic
approach
Psychological approaches
associated with nomothetic
approach
Research that focuses on the individual case as a means of Phineas Gauge, Margaret
understanding behaviour rather than aiming to formulate mead
general laws of behaviour
An attempt to study human behaviour through the Social Conformity /
development of general principles and universal laws obedience
Case studies Genie’s case study
Unstructured Interviews
Self-Report
Laboratory experiment Milgram’s shock study
Natural experiment
Field experiment
Humanist Little Hans - Freud
Psychodynamic
Behaviourist Biological attachment
Cognitive (Bowlby’s theory)
Biological

Wednesday 20th October – test on pysch – 24 marks, (36 mins)